Incumbents Mayor Cynthia Conners and Councilman Milton Robbins were re-elected to the City Council Tuesday, and challenger Noel Hatch took the third open seat in a close race with Shari Horne.

Terms for Conners, Robbins and Councilman Marty Rhoades end this year, and Rhoades chose not to run again, opening the door for four challengers to compete for his seat. In addition to Hatch and Horne, residents Mara Hodgkins and David Russell Ohrn qualified as candidates.

Hatch, a retired attorney who received 3,327 votes or 17.6 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results from the Orange County Registrar of Voters, said Wednesday morning he was "delighted to be elected."

"I hope I can serve well," he added, noting he has a lot to learn since it's his first time serving on a city council. He said he and the other council members have worked together before, live in the same area and are comfortable with each other.

"We will enjoy working together and accomplish common goals," he said.

Horne, with 3,117 votes, was close behind Hatch. She joined several residents to watch election results Tuesday night at Clubhouse 7 in an event organized by the Laguna Woods Democratic Club and co-sponsored by the American Association of University Women, Concerned Citizens of Laguna Woods Village and the National Council of Jewish Women.

The retired businesswoman lost to Hatch by 210 votes.

"The future needs to come to Laguna Woods, but I believe in free choice and if this is what the residents want, so be it," Horne said following her loss.

This was the first election for Conners, who received 5,145 of the 18,888 votes cast in Tuesday's election. She was appointed to the council in 2009 to fill the seat left vacant by Brenda Ross, who died at age 93, shortly after her election.

Conners, a lawyer, said she didn't expect to see a lot of change in the city as a result of the election.

"Getting things done in local government is like turning a battleship around," she said. "I expect we'll continue to stay the course."

Conners said she hopes to focus on three areas: accessibility to alternative transportation, easy access for residents getting to and from doctors' appointments, and recycling more.

Conners said she was looking forward to working with Hatch: "He has a very thoughtful and careful decision making process."

Robbins, 91, received 3,401 votes, 18 percent of the vote, sending him into his third term.

"It has been eight years of hard work leading up to this," Robbins said. "It gives me a great deal of satisfaction that some of the things we have achieved over the past years have been recognized by the voters."

Ohrn and Hodgkins received 2,558 and 1,340 votes, respectively.

Earlier in the evening at Clubhouse 7, when news organizations began projecting President Barack Obama the winner, the room of seniors exploded into a dance party, with people jumping up and down, hugging each other and chanting "Four more years!"

"This is a miracle, and I am so happy," said Katherine Mattair as she dried her eyes.

Edie Eichmeier agreed. "We won and we saved our country," she said as she danced around and hugged her friends.

Linda Nearing, president of the Laguna Woods Democratic Club, said the club didn't endorse any council candidates but was very pleased that Obama was reelected.

"History is going to look back on this as a very important election, where there was a choice between humanity of this country moving forward or regressing," she said.

Resident Irena Weygold said she proved citizenship and being eligible to vote isn't necessary to make a difference in an election.

"You can vote with your pocketbook and that's what I do," said the German native who has lived in the U.S. for 50 years and donated to the Obama campaign.

The City Council election, however, didn't interest her, she said.

"I don't donate to the City Council election because it will not make any difference, so I don't get involved in that sort of thing," she said.

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